- For the live-action film character, see Zipper (film).
Zipper (whose real name goes unstated) is a recurrent character in the Jem animated series. He is a hired thug for Eric Raymond. He is highly unscrupulous and mercantile, and has gone to great lengths to fulfill his assignments, from theft to attempted murder. He has an extensive criminal background and presumably has even changed his hair color to thwart detection. He is also not too bright.
Personality[]
From what we can find in the Jem series, Zipper is the typical thug you can find in an alley. However, he is very discrete about his jobs.
History[]
This rather stereotypical street thug is hired by Eric Raymond in order to "scare" some girls in a house. The plan was for Zipper to get inside the house and move some of the objects inside to make the girls get scared and then he was then supposed to flee from the scene. However, things happened a little bit different: he got into the house by breaking a window and then started stealing objects. Jerrica, Kimber, Aja and Shana went down to the first floor to investigate and caught him in the act. While trying to escape, he ran and pushed Kimber, making her throw a lantern with a candle that provoked the fire of Starlight House. Eric was furious about this failure.
Criminal record[]
- Arson: When carrying out a job for Eric Raymond, where Zipper was supposed to enter the Starlight House and move some of the objects inside around with the intention of scaring the people living there, he was caught in the act and, while attempting to escape, he knocked down a candle lit lantern held by one of the girls. This initiated a fire which ended up consuming the entire building.
- Attempted murder: In the episode Hot Time in Hawaii, he was ordered by Pizzazz to kidnap Kimber and leave her inside an active volcano. He was arrested for this.
- Breaking into private property: Most of Zipper's criminal jobs consist at some point on breaking into private property. Perhaps the most well known of these acts was when he broke into Starlight House (read above), which ended up with the destruction of the entire building. Other instances where he has broken into private property include when he and his gang broke into the Starlight Drive-in (and even harassed and held hostage the owners inside it), and when he broke into Palace Du Voisin in Venice through a skylight.
- Criminal association: The most well known of Zipper's criminal associations is, without a doubt, that which he had with Eric Raymond. Zipper would be Eric's main man whenever the latter required some dirty work to be done, allowing the executive to remain not directly involved with these crimes. On his part, Zipper leads his very own gang of evildoers who often accompany him while performing criminal acts.
- Kidnapping/forceful confinement: Zipper and his gang are no strangers to kidnapping and/or retaining people confined against their will. When he and his men were sent to the Starlight Drive-in to investigate about Synergy, they trapped and held The Holograms hostage inside while The Battle of the Bands was taking place. Fortunately, thanks to a few holograms projected with Jem's earrings, the girls were able to escape and perform at the music contest, winning it in the end.
- Theft: Zipper is often seen stealing objects that don't belong to him during his crimes. When he broke into Starlight House, he had orders to only move stuff around in order to scare the people living there, but Zipper, under his own resolution, resorted to start stealing them instead.
- Sabotage: Zipper has sabotaged a number of properties, items and objects not belonging to him in order to cause harm to others. He unscrewed the bolts on a ski-lift, which Jem and The Holograms took a ride on. The tampering caused Jem and Shana's cabin to come loose from its cogs, and Jem was left hanging dangerously high in the air.
Gallery[]
Animated series[]
Fashions[]
Dolls[]
Trivia[]
- There isn't a known name for Zipper. In an interview, Christy Marx stated that he was "too inconsequential a character to bother giving him a name more than that."
- During his time on the show, his hair color changes. This was probably an editing issue in the overseas production, since he wasn't a regular character. The hair colors are dirty blond and black.
- Zipper is the one that caused the Starlight House to burn down, although it was Eric Raymond who was the unintentional driving force behind the act.
- Zipper was originally called "Perve".
- Zipper, Eric Raymond and Techrat share the same voice actor: Charlie Adler.
- Zipper was written out because the writers felt the character was too thuggish.
- It's assumed that he remained in jail after the "Hot Time in Hawaii" episode, since it was his last appearance. After he was written out, Techrat started to appear more frequently in the show.
References[]
- ↑ Preliminary name while still under development.